 /*******************************************************************************
  * Copyright (c) 2007 IBM Corporation and others.
  * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
  * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
  * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
  * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
  *
  * Contributors:
  * IBM Corporation - initial API and implementation
  ******************************************************************************/
 package org.eclipse.ui.forms;

 import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.IMessageProvider;
 import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Control;

 /**
  * This interface encapsulates a single message that can be shown in a form.
  * Messages can be associated with controls, or be of a general nature.
  *
  * @see IMessageManager
  * @since 3.3
  */
 public interface IMessage extends IMessageProvider {
     /**
      * Returns the unique message key
      *
      * @return the unique message key
      */
     Object getKey();

     /**
      * Returns data for application use
      *
      * @return data object
      */
     Object getData();

     /**
      * Returns the control this message is associated with.
      *
      * @return the control or <code>null</code> if this is a general message.
      */
     Control getControl();

     /**
      * Messages that are associated with controls can be shown with a prefix
      * that indicates the origin of the message (e.g. the label preceeding the
      * control).
      *
      * @return the message prefix or <code>null</code> if this is a general
      * message
      */
     String getPrefix();
 }
